spector. The said inspector shall thereupon personally, or by his deputy, 

 investigate the same, and in case he is unable to agree with the claimant 

 as to the validity of his claim or as to the amount thereof, the questions 

 at issue shall be determined by three arbitrators, to be composed of the 

 secretary of the state board of agriculture, the state forester, and an 

 assistant attorney-general to be designated by the attorney-general. Any 

 award of damages made by the arbitrators shall be certified to the auditor 

 of the commonwealth, together with the costs of appraisal, and the said 

 damages and costs shall thereupon be paid from the treasury of the 

 commonwealth in the same manner as other claims. 



Section 2. To carry out the provisions of this act there may be ex- 

 pended from the treasury of the commonwealth during the current fiscal 

 year, the sum of eight thousand dollars. 



Section 3. This act shall take effect upon its passage. [Approved 

 May 21, 1918. 



PEAT INVESTIGATION. 



Resolves, Chapter 49. 



Resolve providing for a report by the state board of agriculture 



and the state department of health on the expediency of 



utilizing the peat deposits in the commonwealth. 



Resolved, That the state board of agriculture and the state department 



of health, acting jointly under the provisions of chapter two hundred and 



twelve of the General Acts of nineteen hundred and seventeen, be directed 



to consider the expediency of utilizing for fuel and other purposes the 



peat deposits within the commonwealth, and to make in their annual 



report under the said chapter such recommendations relative thereto as 



may appear advisable. [Approved April 26, 1918. 



ESTABLISHMENT OF STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRI- 

 CULTURE. 



General Acts, Chapter 268. 



An Act to establish the state department of agriculture. 



Be it enacted, etc., as follows: 



Section 1. The state board of agriculture as constituted under 

 authority of chapter eighty-nine of the Revised Laws, and acts in amend- 

 ment thereof and in addition thereto, is hereby abolished. All the rights, 

 powers and duties pertaining to said board are hereby transferred to, and 

 shall hereafter be vested in and exercised by the state department of agri- 

 culture, estabUshed hereunder, which shall in all respects be the lawful 

 successor of said board. Immediately upon the quahfication of the mem- 

 bers of said department but not prior to the first day of September, 

 nineteen hundred and eighteen, all books, papers, maps, plans, charts, 



